Holistic Perspectives

Illnesses and Allergies | Nutritional/Home Dental Care/Lifestyle Counseling | Stress Management | Amalgam (Silver) Fillings | Smoking and Chewing Tobacco | Working with Specialists | Preventive Home Care | Oral Cancer Screening

HOLISTIC SERVICES

As you can see throughout this website, CDE fully acknowledges the interactions between the mouth and the body.  The awareness of the extent of these interactions is growing almost daily.  Dental therapy must keep this in mind when treating the mouth. In addition it is Dr. Prus’ firm belief that the best therapy for many dental problems is found in the simplest therapy.  This is most evident in his approach to achieving periodontal health for his patients.  While there have been many advanced clinical and chemical therapeutic remedies for periodontal disease, precise, detailed, at-home hygiene care has proven to be the most effective and cost saving.  Given a good chance, the body will heal itself in many situations.  The best therapies are often the most holistic.

Illnesses and Allergies

Illnesses and even their cures can have dramatic effects on the body including the mouth, even if the disease does not exist there.  The reverse is true also, the mouth, both in illness and in health, can have dramatic effects on the rest of the body.  CDE totally understands and respects these relationships and treats each patient with these facts in mind.  Thus holistic dental care is the standard of care at CDE.

The body’s reaction to certain materials can be excessive for certain patients.  These allergic reactions, such as to latex allergic reactions, may manifest themselves in the mouth as well as the body. The interaction of the body with the mouth through alterations in its normal biochemical balance is a serious issue that we are attentive to daily at CDE. What is most surprising to us at CDE is the increase in the number of people with allergies to previously 'normal' substances, including foods.  It raises the question as to why this is happening and the steps we must take at CDE to prevent allergic issues.

Food production, such as it is manufactured today with genetic engineering, additives and pesticides, can be a growing source of the allergies the American population is experiencing.

Allergies may be mild, such as a skin rash from latex allergy, or severe, as with anaphylactic obstruction of airway passages from the very same source.  To protect each patient CDE has created its own customized medical history form which uses the most comprehensive information gathering process to ensure all medical conditions are accounted for not just for the patient but other family members as well.  All medicines being taken are recorded, as are all negative drug reactions.  This is then placed in the main database to allow each staff member immediate access to all such files anywhere in the office.  Dr. Prus can also access these records on secure connections from outside the office.  This is valuable if you have a weekend emergency and need medicinal advice.  This further protects your entire body while you are a patient at CDE. Whenever any such medical issues are encountered, appropriate therapeutic measures will be taken to minimize the negative effects of these conditions on the mouth.  Always be aware to inform the staff at CDE of any changes in your medical history, no matter how slight it may seem to you.

Dental treatment at CDE is directed to be both the simplest and most effective to achieve the longest-lasting result.  One of the most important characteristics of dental care at CDE is that it encompasses the whole body while treating each part of the mouth. To treat a tooth without noting its relevance to the function and balance of the rest of the mouth is not done at CDE.  Thorough clinical exams make note of any imbalances and functional discrepancies. Balance, harmony and comfort are the constant result with this long-term focus.

Nutritional/Home Dental Care/Lifestyle Counseling

The Center for Dental Excellence firmly believes there is a constant interaction between the mouth and the body. The body is a continuous series of biochemical reactions and balance between these reactions is vital to optimal body health. What we take into our bodies through our mouths is a key part of that balance. Nutritional, lifestyle and home care counseling receives the same detailed attention at CDE as do all other. 

Dr. Prus has been eating only natural foods (grow your own whenever possible) versus canned, pre-packaged substitutes or artificial alternatives to natural foods (e.g. margarine) since his childhood.  Dr. Prus totally believes the body does not know how to deal with chemicals that are not natural in their source and they can become a source of many problems and illnesses.

Proper eating habits are essential for healthy living.  Proper sleep patterns are equally as important.  The lack of either of these two processes in a person’s life will likely lead to biological breakdown or illness.

Stress Management

Simply put, stress is a killer.  It is likely to be the source of as much as 70% of our illnesses.  With his many years of medical hypnosis training, plus his inherent awareness of the need to keep stress levels at a minimum, Dr. Prus constantly strives to assist his patients in developing a style of living that keeps their bodies and minds as relaxed as possible in this most challenging world we live in.  Meditation, yoga and core-centered exercise therapeutics (Pilates) are just some of the approaches advised by Dr. Prus and his staff. Health, wellness and peace of mind are intimately interrelated.

Dental Hypnotherapy is the holistic alternative to sedation dentistry.  Dr. Prus spent years learning how to help patients learn how to be in control of their fears and anxieties.  Develop a new confidence in yourself and how to be in control of your environment. This will give you a freedom from fear you could not have previously dreamt of. Anxious patients are our best, most enthusiastic patients because, with our assistance, they change their lives forever.

The entire ambiance at the Center for Dental Excellence is designed to promote patient comfort, calmness and emotional peace of mind: the music, waiting room seating, flowers, scented aromas, noiseless drills, private, treatment room music through Sennheiser earphones, warm essential-oil wraps for hands and feet during treatment, lots of TLC and more.  You wiil enjoy the experience.

Dr. Prus is constantly seeking out relationships with other professionals who share these same beliefs so CDE may be able to confidently refer its patients to the best holistic health practitioners in the region.

Amalgam (Silver) Fillings

CDE does not place amalgam restorations. The reason is because they can, if large enough, leave the tooth susceptible to fracture over time and this has frequently occurred. Many a patient has gone to their dentist with a fractured tooth around an amalgam. Bonded fillings are better at protecting remaining tooth structure, preventing fractures, and sealing out bacteria which can harm the dental pulp.

Silver fillings are made up of several metals which are mixed together in precise proportions.  After mixing, the compounds, which include mercury, react with one another and become another integrated compound.  They are amalgamated together in a solid mass which becomes very hard and durable. Thus the term amalgam filling is used to describe them.

International scientific studies all validated for decades the fact that mercury (amalgam) fillings are not a danger to the average patients’ health.  All information on this topic is readily available through the ADA website and associated links. It is necessary for any groups which oppose the use of amalgams in the mouth to develop good scientific evidence to support their contentions. At this point the last page has not been written on this topic. Those patients suspected to be allergic to any of the ingredients of the amalgam fillings (silver, tin, zinc, copper, mercury) should be tested for such allergies.

It is most important that, if allergies to the components of amalgam fillings are found, the removal process of such fillings be done most carefully to avoid increasing the blood content of the allergen during removal.  Removal must be done with a rubber dam and suction to prevent the ground up, somewhat aerosol amalgam debris from entering into the body.  Appropriate hi-volume suction must also be used to eliminate any aerosols of the same debris.

Smoking and Chewing Tobacco

Smoking is a habit that has consequences in the mouth separate from the damage it creates in the lungs.  Besides the carcinogenic effects that work throughout the body, cigarettes have the substance called nicotine which is a vasoconstrictor.

A vasoconstrictor, by definition,reduces blood flow to an area.  Another common vasoconstrictor used in dentistry is epinephrine, which helps reduce blood flow in the area where an anesthetic is given to numb a tooth; epinephrine helps keep the anesthetic in that location longer.

With cigarettes the nicotine effects the entire body as well as all the soft tissues in the mouth.  With reduced blood flow the body cannot summon enough white blood cells, which fight disease processes, to protect itself.  Gingival tissues, when effected by nicotine, are more fibrous and thick.  Any bacterial activity will have the advantage in producing gum disease in a person who routinely smokes. Healing takes longer and is less effective.  It is paramount that, if you smoke, your home care must be perfect.  With no bacteria in the mouth to create disease, the healing process can process, even if it will be slower.  It is still much better to stop smoking.

Chewing tobacco creates a more concentrated effect of the nicotine in the mouth.  In addition the carcinogenic chemistry, that is so harmful to the body, is focused on a small area where the tobacco is routinely held inside the mouth.  Chewing tobacco has been definitely linked to oral cancer.  Extent of damage may not be known for up to 20 years.

Photo of oral tissues of a young man who was using chewing tobacco for 7 years.  Note the thick, irregular changes in soft tissue texture and color.  Tissue was biopsied and found to possess pre-cancerous cells.

Working with Specialists

The Center for Dental Excellence will refer patients as needed to the best professionals in the region who specialize in advanced applications of dental, nutritional, lifestyle and psychological counseling to allow each patient the greatest opportunities to have a happy and healthy life.  Our patients’ health is all that matters at CDE.

Preventive Home Care

CDE Preventive Home Care focuses on the fact that the health of the mouth directly affects the health of the body. Personalized instructions are given at each appointment to each patient to help guide them to the highest state of health they can achieve. These are not the routine ‘brush your teeth better’ instructions you may be used to, but detailed case by case, tooth by tooth protocols designed to bring you to the best state of oral health possible.  Dr. Prus and his hygienist, Ellen, constantly compare notes on how they use new home care devices and the results they get so they can transmit that information to you for your benefit.  By utilizing such advanced home care regimens, a totally organic, holistic healing can be achieve on a regular basis that spreads its benefits throughout the body.  It is simple and effective and yields lifelong benefits.

Oral Cancer Screening 

Photo shows early lesion on roof of the mouth.

Early detection is the key to all successful cancer treatment. That is why routine oral, head and neck cancer screenings are done at each periodontal therapy appointment. Any tissue irregularities, no matter how insignificant, are microscopically and histologically investigated to ensure no potential cancers are left undetected. Prevention far exceeds treatment of cancerous disease in simplicity and effectiveness.